Geo-Institute branches in California have had a strong year in 2014 and are poised to deliver lots of important information in 2015. The six chapters within the State of California are in San Diego, Orange County, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, San Francisco (Bay Area), and Sacramento. Contact information for each of them can be found on the ASCE website.

In 2014, CA chapters hosted many individual dinner and lunch meetings, joint dinners, and four large annual seminars. The San Francisco Chapter co-hosted the UC Berkeley workshop, the UC Berkeley Lecture Series, joint meetings with AEG, and five additional dinner meetings. Dinner talks ranged from BART tunnel updates to the Ethical Dilemma of Low Price Bidding. The Los Angeles chapter hosted the 37th Annual Queen Mary Seminar, featuring Dr. Thomas Brandon, Dr. Craig Benson, and Dr. Robert Holtz. The International Conference on Geo- Disaster Reduction was also co-hosted by the Los Angeles chapter at Cal State Fullerton.

San Diego, Orange County, Inland Empire, and Sacramento chapters have organized talks that included the East Garden Grove-Wintersburg Channel Project, 2014 South Napa Earthquake Update, and a Technical Tour of Mill Creek. Events coming up in 2015 include the annual UC Berkeley Workshop, UC Berkeley Lecture Series, Annual Queen Mary Seminar, and many more local gatherings.

These diverse events provided an opportunity for all geo-professionals to learn, network, and develop lasting professional bonds. Take advantage of your local chapter this year. Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions about chapters near you. Contact information: Kartik.Atyam@urs.com.